UbuntuWeeklyNewsletter/Issue102

Contents

UWN Translations
In This Issue
General Community News
Ubuntu Stats
1. Bug Stats
2. Translation Stats Hardy
LoCo News
1. Ubuntu Global Bug Jam
New in Intrepid Ibex
1. Java Open jdk6 promoted to main
Launchpad News
In The Press
In The Blogosphere
In Other News
Meeting Summaries
1. Server Team (July summary)
Upcoming Meetings and Events
Updates and Security for 6.06, 7.04, 7.10, and 8.04
Archives and RSS Feed
Additional Ubuntu News
Conclusion
Credits
Glossary of Terms
Feedback

Welcome to the Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter, Issue #102 for the week July 27th - August 2nd, 2008. In this issue we cover: QA to Launchpad Liaison, MOTU news, New Ubuntu Members, Ubuntu Screencasts, Ubuntu Global Bug Jam, New in Intrepid Ibex, Launchpad 2.0, Ubuntu-UK podcast #11, Linux pre-installs at 3%, Steve Stalcup interview, Server Team summary, and much, much more!

UWN Translations

Note to translators and our readers: We are trying a new way of linking to our translations pages. Please follow the link below for the information you need.

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuWeeklyNewsletter/Translations

In This Issue

QA to Launchpad Liaison
MOTU News
New Ubuntu Members
Ubuntu Screencasts
Ubuntu Stats
Ubuntu Global Bug Jam
New in Intrepid Ibex
Launchpad News
In the Press & Blogosphere
Ubuntu-UK Podcast #11
Linux pre-installs rocket to 3%
Steve Stalcup Interview
Meeting Summaries
Upcoming Meetings & Events
Updates & Security

General Community News

QA to Launchpad Liaison

The Ubuntu QA team is interested in establishing a liaison to the Launchpad team. Because Launchpad is heavily used and critical for QA activities in Ubuntu it is important that Ubuntu QA is well represented to the Launchpad development and management teams.

The liaison's duties would include:

Provide Launchpad developers with prioritized bugs/specs relevant to Ubuntu QA
Provide Ubuntu QA with information on Launchpad changes and progress
Drive discussion around needed Launchpad changes or possible bug fixes
Advocate on behalf of Ubuntu QA to Launchpad developers and management
Do the all of the above in as transparent and collaborative of a way as possible

Some useful liaison activities:

Solicit Launchpad feedback on a specific change or Launchpad feature
Solicit individual priority bugs affecting QA
Consult Launchpad developers for possible future directions

https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-qa/2008-August/000201.html

MOTU News

Nicolas Valcárcel(nxvl) has been doing fantastic work, the feedback to his application has been great, the MOTU Council was only too happy to deem him ready for joining the team. Launchpad: https://launchpad.net/~nvalcarcel Wiki: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Nxvl

Christophe Sauthier (huats) has been active in a lot of areas of Ubuntu, MOTU being one of them. We're happy we can add him to the Universe Contributors team now. Launchpad: https://launchpad.net/~christophe.sauthier Wiki: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ChristopheSauthier

David Futcher(bobbo) has done a lot of good work in the last months and his sponsors immediately gave good feedback on his application. We're happy he's now a member of the Universe Contributors team. Launchpad: https://launchpad.net/~bobbo Wiki: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/DavidFutcher

Having been involved in Ubuntu for several releases, Onkar Shinde lived up to the challenge of Java packaging. He has done a lot of amazing work and it was time he joined the Universe Contributors team. Launchpad: https://launchpad.net/~onkarshinde Wiki: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/OnkarShinde

Andrea Gasparini(gaspa) has done great work and the feedback on his application has been very much in favor for him, thus was deemed ready to join the team. Launchpad: https://launchpad.net/~gaspa Wiki: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Gaspa2

New Ubuntu Members

Asia Oceania Board

Fajran Iman Rusadi(iang) is an active contributor of Ubuntu Indonesian Team and is responsible for their Ubuntu DVD project that helps to spread Ubuntu to regions that lack internet connectivity. He is also a packaging coordinator on the BlankOn Project, and a maintainer of one of the largest open source software mirrors in Indonesia. Launchpad: https://launchpad.net/~iang Wiki: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/FajranImanRusadi

The Asia Oceania board is happy to welcome this new Ubuntu member!

Ubuntu Screencasts

Mixing A Podcast In Ardour - The UK LoCo Team has released the next 4 installments of a 13 part series outlining how to mix a podcast in Ardour. It is their hope that it will benefit others with editing podcasts, or even just editing in general. The original was recorded at 2560 X 1024 resolution so those with smaller screens may want to select a lower resolution available at the links.

Part 7: Applying filters to improve audio quality, using the fast lookahead limiter and using compression to achieve a more even level http://screencasts.ubuntu.com/Mixing_A_Podcast_In_Ardour_-_Part_7
Part 8: Compression automation http://screencasts.ubuntu.com/Mixing_A_Podcast_In_Ardour_-_Part_8
Part 9: Compression review, adding a low-pass filter and exporting audio files http://screencasts.ubuntu.com/Mixing_A_Podcast_In_Ardour_-_Part_9
Part 10: Configuring podcoder and using podcoder to encode audio files http://screencasts.ubuntu.com/Mixing_A_Podcast_In_Ardour_-_Part_10

Links to parts 1-6 can be found at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuWeeklyNewsletter/Issue101

Find all the Ubuntu Screencasts here: http://screencasts.ubuntu.com/

Ubuntu Stats

Bug Stats

Open (47176) -175 # over last week
Critical (25) +1 # over last week
Unconfirmed (22946) -582 # over last week
Unassigned (38086) -214 # over last week
All bugs ever reported (198140) +757 # over last week

As always, the Bug Squad needs more help. If you want to get started, please see https://wiki.ubuntu.com/BugSquad

Translation Stats Hardy

Spanish (12079)
English-UK (32381)
French (39160)
Brazilian Portuguese (50125)
Swedish (52880)

Remaining strings to translate in Ubuntu 8.04 "Hardy Heron," see more at: https://translations.launchpad.net/ubuntu/hardy/

LoCo News

Ubuntu Global Bug Jam

Attention LoCo teams! Time is getting short and you need to get moving or run the risk of missing out on one of the best Ubuntu events of the year. Next weekend, August 8th-10th is set as the Ubuntu Global Bug Jam celebration. Lots of teams are already signed up, but your team can still make a difference to the success of the event. It's going to be a rockin' good time that no team should miss out on.

Global Bug Jam wiki: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/GlobalBugJam
Running a Bug Jam wiki: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/RunningBugJam
Helping with bugs: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/HelpingWithBugs
The Bug Squad: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/BugSquad

After the jam, be sure to blog about it, showing all the great pictures of your event.

New in Intrepid Ibex

Java Open jdk6 promoted to main

Recently Openjdk6 was promoted to main; with today's upload of java-common, OpenJDK6 is the default java runtime / development kit in main, on all architectures.

On amd64, i386, lpia and sparc, the Hotspot VM, including the JIT compiler is used as the VM.
On ia64, the Hotspot VM, using the byte code interpreter is used.
On powerpc, the Cacao VM, including the Cacao JIT compiler is used as the VM.

What will change for the packaging?

Use of the default-jre-headless, default-jre, default-jdk, default-jdk-builddep packages is preferred in favour of a specific runtime/jdk. The packages provide a symlink /usr/lib/jvm/default-java to point to our preferred choice of jvm/sdk.
build dependencies: If a source package builds a "-gcj" package, don't stop building it yet. This will slow down the gij runtime. Instead, use "default-jdk-builddep", which depends on the default jdk and java-gcj-compat-dev. If no "-gcj" package is built, use default-jdk as a build dependency.
dependencies: For a dependency, which doesn't require an UI, use default-jre-headless | java2-runtime-headless
for all other dependencies, use default-jre | java2-runtime Replace java2- with java5- only if newer language features are required.

For intrepid the team will strive to replace all direct references to java-gcj-compat-dev and java-gcj-compat with references to default-*. https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-devel-announce/2008-July/000460.html

Launchpad News

Launchpad 2.0 Radically Improves Collaboration for Open Source Projects

The formal notification of the roll-out of Launchpad 2.0 has arrived. Launchpad was conceived as a nexus of collaboration for Open Source projects to make them more efficient to build, easier to collaborate on, and more open to innovation from community participation, according to Mark Shuttleworth, CEO, Canonical. What it means to the individual is the ability to branch and merge code, mailing lists to keep track of changes and bugs, integration with Bugzilla and Track to work together with other communities, and a simpler, more intuitive web interface. View the tour at https://launchpad.net/+about

http://www.ubuntu.com/news/launchpad2-improves-collaboration

Launchpad 2.0: new beta API, new UI and more!

Launchpad 2.0 has arrived with a new logo, a new look and lots of new features. This release brings together new features from the past nine months of Launchpad’s development and introduces two exciting beta features.

Restful web services API and Python library - One of the main goals for Launchpad 2.0 has been to make it easier to manipulate data in Launchpad. With this release, Launchpad is introducing a beta test of two features that will enable you to develop external applications that can authenticate, query and modify data in Launchpad’s database.
- a restful web services API
- a Python library to access the new API

Initially, the API will provide access to files, and search for bugs, people and teams systems. Full details of the API and Python library will be detailed later this week. In the mean time, apply to join the Launchpad Beta Testers team if you’d like to take part in the beta testing. https://launchpad.net/~launchpad-beta-testers

Closer integration with Bugzilla and Trac - Often, bugs in free software affect more than one project. Launchpad lets projects share the same bug report and comment history, however up until now, that has only been available where each project uses Launchpad as their bug tracker. With Launchpad 2.0 comes the introduction beta testing of two new GPL plugins — one for Bugzilla, one for Trac — that enable projects to share a comment history between the bug as it’s tracked in Launchpad and on external trackers.
Simpler page layout and navigation - One of the most obvious changes in Launchpad 2.0 is the web interface’s new design. The aim has been to simplify the layout and navigation. There’s more information at the launchpad blog here: http://news.launchpad.net/cool-new-stuff/simpler-launchpad-web-interface

See for yourself, or show someone else what Launchpad is all about by taking the tour! https://launchpad.net/+tour/

http://news.launchpad.net/releases/launchpad-20-new-beta-api-new-ui-and-more

Mark Shuttleworth: Launchpad to be open source in 12 months

Mark Shuttleworth says that Launchpad will likely be open sourced within the year. During his keynote address at OSCON, Shuttleworth put to rest the criticism of some in the open source community that the project hosting platform was proprietary software. Specifically, Shuttleworth said, "We will release the source code within the next twelve months." Ryan Paul believes the Launchpad user interface is already a much better service than competing closed-source project hosting services, but opening it up to the community will allow it to accelerate development. http://arstechnica.com/journals/linux.ars/2008/07/23/mark-shuttleworth-launchpad-to-be-open-source-in-12-months

In The Press

Launchpad Wants to Host Your Project - In a blog written by Mike Gunderloy, he shows that Launchpad is making GPL-licensed add ons for bug-tracking status and history sharing with other projects that use Bugzilla or Trac. Also, there is the RESTful API, giving access to some of Launchpad's services. The intention is that more services will be added in the future. The combination of the new features in Launchpad, especially the API, make it a good choice for those looking to the future. http://ostatic.com/169995-blog/launchpad-wants-to-host-your-project
Will a $19.99 Ubuntu Succeed Where the Free Version Hasn’t? - Ubuntu is now on store shelves at BestBuy, and Adrian Kingsley-Hughes takes a look at some questions concerning this. One thing that he doesn't understand is why people who are capable of researching and downloading pirated copies of software don't just download or buy a copy of Linux, instead. He believes that a Linux install goes pretty smoothly on most modern desktop PCs. If things go wrong however, and they can go wrong, then even with the backing of tech support a Linux newbie is going to see a side of Linux that they’ll probably not forget. Read his opinions at: http://itmanagement.earthweb.com/osrc/article.php/3761616/Will+a+$19.99+Ubuntu+Succeed+Where+the+Free+Version+Hasn%E2%80%99t

In The Blogosphere

Economic clustering and Free Software release coordination - In a follow-up to a presentation he made at the Linux Symposium, Mark Shuttleworth elaborates on the benefits of coordination in distribution releases. In this blog article, he shows how car manufacturers all work off a common baseline of features, and this commonality doesn't deter the brand loyalty of the customers. The fashion industry is another industry where releases are coordinated to achieve maximum effect. It is Shuttleworth's contention that the coordination of freezes and releases will build a stronger impact on the global software market. http://www.markshuttleworth.com/archives/159
Ubuntu 8.10 (Intrepid Ibex) Alpha 3, Screen shots and New Theme Proposals - The "Break It Down" blog takes a look at some of the proposed features of Intrepid Ibex, concentrating on the theme and icons that may be used. The blog noted that the theme appears to be a trendy dark theme, despite the fact that the theme for Hardy Heron was a lighter one. In addition, new icons were proposed with a more asymmetric look to them. There are a number of other items listed in the article, with links to their features. http://www.breakitdownblog.com/ubuntu-810-intrepid-ibex-alpha-3-screenshots-and-new-theme-proposals/
LinuxWorld Expo Preview: Four Canonical and Ubuntu Linux Trends - The Var Guy takes a look at the upcoming LinuxWorld Expo, August 4 in San Francisco, and raises some possibilities concerning revelations by Ubuntu and Canonical. His suggestions include server-oriented application relationships, an appliance initiative tied to Ubuntu Server, Netbooks as being a higher priority than Mobile Internet Devices (MIDs), and for Ubuntu to be the defacto platform used on thousands of PCs that are donated to area schools. http://www.thevarguy.com/2008/07/28/linuxworld-expo-preview-four-canonical-and-ubuntu-linux-trends/
XP vs Ubuntu, the beginning - After having some trouble with another OS, the author installed Ubuntu on a dual boot configuration. Partitioning was easy with GParted and the installation was a breeze. Best of all, everything worked after the install, including wireless which had been a big problem on the other OS. In fact, the install was so easy that it left him a bit confused, like there should have been something else to do. His conclusion is that out of the box Linux really is better. http://borisg.wordpress.com/2008/07/28/xp-vs-ubuntu-the-beginning/
10 + 2 things you’ll get with Ubuntu 8.10 “Intrepid Ibex” - Fabrizio Balliano outlines some things proposed for the Intrepid Ibex release. These include faster login, better Flash experience, 3G networking, guest account, cleaning up no longer used packages, automatic download of printer drivers, font selector, faster installation from desktop DVD, installation from USB stick, and new graphic for the installer. Additional possibilities are identity management and network authentication, and PackageKit cross-distro package manager. http://fabrizioballiano.net/2008/07/19/10-2-things-youll-get-with-ubuntu-810-intrepid-ibex/
No! Wha…oooh…wow. Yes! - The author of this article is a tech business owner who uses Ubuntu on his iMac to show friends and customers the advantages of using open source. He thinks using Linux is a lot like listening to an undiscovered band, one that none of his friends have listened to. When they first experience it they want it, because there is something in the experience that gives the initial impression extra impact. When customers realize that the system is built upon a foundation of free and open software they have a newfound respect. Linux is its best sales tool, because it creates curiosity. http://www.ubuntuproductivity.com/journal/ubuntu/07/2008/marketing_linux_to_small_business/

In Other News

Ubuntu UK Podcast:episode #11 - Blowin’ In The Wind

The 11th Ubuntu Podcast from the UK LoCo team, Ciemon Dunville, Alan Pope, Dave Walker and Tony Whitmore presents interviews recorded at LUGRadio Live 2008.

In this episode:

Discussion
Pete Stean reviews the Advent 4211 (MSI Wind)
A review of the Viglen MPC-L - which we’re also giving away. We also give details about how you can get the Viglen MPC-L for £80
Sarcastic News
A great interview with Andy Robinson and Etienne Cherdlu from OpenStreetMap
Listener feedback.
Announcing the winner of the Efficient PC Wraith
Start of a new competition where we give away the Viglen MPC-L. All you need to do is follow the instructions given on the show to have a chance of winning this cracking tiny PC.

Comments and suggestions are welcome at: podcast@ubuntu-uk.org

http://podcast.ubuntu-uk.org/2008/07/31/s01e11-blowin-in-the-wind/

Linux pre-installs rocket to three per cent

Linux has made headway in Microsoft's UK heartland, the PC sales channel. The number of machines shipped with Linux preloaded on them has multiplied a whopping 28 times since Microsoft launched its Vista operating system in January 2007. This sounds impressive, but Linux was starting from a rather small base in traditional UK sales channels. The Linux share of this route to market has edged up ever since the Vista launch. It broke the two per cent barrier in May after the latest release of Ubuntu, the strain of Linux most capable of kicking Microsoft in the shins. http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/08/01/linux-preloads-rocket-per-cent

Steve Stalcup Interview

Steve Stalcup(aka Vorian) lives in Ohio with his wife and 4 children. After using Ubuntu since 5.04, he is now devoting his interests to Kubuntu. Steve is involved in many community projects and he recently earned his MOTU status. He started by contributing in small ways, and gradually tackled larger and more complex tasks. Then, before he knew it, he was getting new packages into Ubuntu and Debian. There were a lot of great resources he used to learn the basics of packaging. The “Old” Ubuntu packaging guide, and the Debian New Maintainers Guide in particular, but the MOTU team is great about helping anyone learn about packaging. For the intrepid release, Steve is focusing on Kubuntu, in order to help make it a top shelf release, but will also help in the sponsorship queue as a way of thanking all the sponsors who helped him. See the full interview at the link. http://behindmotu.wordpress.com/2008/08/02/steve-stalcup-vorian/

Meeting Summaries

Server Team (July summary)

DKIM verification is on by default
Default ssl virtual host in apache2
Improved autochanger support in Bacula
Openldap update
Smartcard support in Openvpn
Samba 3.2
more details at the link

http://ubuntuserver.wordpress.com/2008/08/01/july-in-the-archive-a-view-from-the-ubuntu-server-team/

Upcoming Meetings and Events

Tuesday, August 05, 2008

Community Council Meeting

Start: 21:00 - UTC
End: 23:00 - UTC
Location: IRC channel #ubuntu-meeting
Agenda: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/CommunityCouncilAgenda

Thursday, August 07, 2008

Maryland LoCo IRC Meeting

Start: 00:00 - UTC
End: 01:00 - UTC
Location: IRC channel #ubuntu-us-md
Agenda: Not listed as of publication

Ubuntu Mobile Team Meeting

Start: 12:00 - UTC
End: 13:00 - UTC
Location: IRC channel #ubuntu-meeting
Agenda: Not listed as of publication

Ubuntu Java Team Meeting

Start: 14:00 - UTC
End: 15:00 - UTC
Location: IRC channel #ubuntu-meeting
Agenda: Not listed as of publication

Friday, August 08, 2008

Americas Membership Board to the Fridge

Start: 00:00 - UTC
End: 00:00 - UTC August 09, 2008
Location: IRC channel #ubuntu-meeting
Agenda: Not listed as of publication

Ubuntu MOTU Meeting

Start: 04:00 - UTC
End: 05:00 - UTC
Location: IRC channel #ubuntu-meeting
Agenda: Not listed as of publication

Updates and Security for 6.06, 7.04, 7.10, and 8.04

Archives and RSS Feed

You can always find older Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter issues at: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuWeeklyNewsletter

You can subscribe to the Ubuntu Weekly News via RSS at: http://fridge.ubuntu.com/uwn/feed

Additional Ubuntu News

As always you can find more news and announcements at:

http://www.ubuntu.com/news

and

http://fridge.ubuntu.com/

Conclusion

Thank you for reading the Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter.

See you next week!

Credits

The Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter is brought to you by:

Nick Ali
John Crawford
Craig A. Eddy
Arlan Vennefron
And many others

Glossary of Terms

API - Application Programming Interface
GPL - General Public License
jdk - Java development kit
jvm - Java virtual machine
MOTU - Master Of The Universe
OSCON - Open Source CONference
PC - Personal Computer
QA - Quality Assurance
sdk - Software development kit
UI - User Interface

Feedback

This document is maintained by the Ubuntu Weekly News Team. If you have a story idea or suggestions for the Weekly Newsletter, join the Ubuntu News Team mailing list at https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/Ubuntu-news-team and submit it. Ideas can also be added to the wiki at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuWeeklyNewsletter/Ideas. If you'd like to contribute to a future issue of the Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter, please feel free to edit the appropriate wiki page. If you have any technical support questions, please send them to ubuntu-users@lists.ubuntu.com.